Writing Program

Welcome to the Class of 2028!

The Writing Program welcomes you to Haverford and looks forward to your arrival! In the meantime, we need your help as we plan for one of the foundational experiences of your first year: the Writing Seminar. Writing Seminars are integral to a Haverford education and every student (without exception) takes one in the fall or spring of the first year in order to fulfill the Writing Requirement. This page describes policies related to the Writing Seminar and explains what you must do before Monday, July 1 at 11:59 p.m. ET to ensure your placement in a course that matches your interests.

Writing Seminars (WS): All writing seminars pair writing instruction with intellectual inquiry; all pay close attention to all stages of the composing processes. Different seminars may extend intellectual inquiry into visual studies; health studies; Quaker history; categories of difference (race, gender, sexual orientation, religious or national identity); popular culture; or engaged social practice. Consider not only those courses that play on your strengths but also those that will stretch your interests in new directions.

Seminars are limited to 12 students and meet twice weekly for 90 minutes; all engage in revision as essential to writing. All writing seminars agree that writing is not simply a reflection of what we have learned but a means by which we understand the materials we encounter, and that we are, in fact, "writing to learn." Only these seminars fulfill the Writing Requirement.

Writing Intensive (WSI) seminars also teach critical inquiry and writing, meet twice weekly, and explore a thematically interrelated set of readings similar to the other seminars. They differ from other seminars in that they meet only in the fall; they are limited to 10 instead of 12 students; they include more time for individual conferences; and they approach writing the academic essay more deliberately and explicitly. WSI seminars do not by themselves satisfy the Writing Requirement, but are intended to prepare students to continue into a second writing seminar (WS) in the spring semester which will satisfy the requirement. If you have not had much experience composing academic essays or would like to develop more confidence in your ability to meet the rigors of college-level writing, these seminars will encourage, strengthen and develop those abilities.

How Placement Works: When assigning students to sections, the Writing Program will consider several factors: your own appraisal of your writing competence; your preferences for particular courses; and a placement essay that you will soon submit.

What You Need to Do: To help us in the placement process, you need to:

• Complete the preference form. Consider your options and let us know both which kind of seminar you think is best for you and which particular seminars you find most appealing.
• You will be asked to rank your top six seminar preferences. Even if you rank a WSI seminar as your first choice, we will need your six seminar choices in order to place you in a regular seminar in the second semester, since the WSI seminar needs to be followed by a regular (WS) seminar. Complete descriptions of all seminars can be found on the Courses page, and are also included in the online placement form at the link for List Courses.
• Write and submit your placement essay. For your own benefit in being matched with an appropriate seminar, and in accord with the Haverford Honor Code, you must write this essay without assistance from anyone (and without consulting outside sources).
• Please submit this form only once; you will receive an acknowledgement that will let you know that your seminar preferences and placement essay have been successfully submitted.

These materials are due by Monday, July 1 at 11:59 p.m. ET. Students will not be able to register for the fall semester until they complete the writing placement.

Please continue to Instructions.